from Dave Feschuk of the Toronto Star,

For many NHLers, it’s a long-accepted pre-game ritual: In the moments before puck drop at the Air Canada Centre on Sunday night, it’s a good bet Maple Leafs teammates Mitch Marner and Matt Martin will indulge in an enthusiastic sniff of a freshly cracked ammonia capsule — commonly known as smelling salts. Marner and Martin, like legions of fellow pros, have both been hyping themselves up by inhaling the stuff for years.

“The first sniff, it clears up your nostrils a little bit,” Marner, 20, said in a recent interview. “The second one, it feels like it gives you a little more go power — adrenalin.”

Said Martin, 28: “It burns the hell out of your nostrils sometimes. But it gives you a bit of a wake-up. It’s like, ‘OK. Let’s do this.’ ”...

One NHL trainer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, said that, while the science is scant — and at least one study found no correlation between inhaling ammonia and improved athletic performance in weightlifting — there’s “power in the placebo effect.” In other words, if the players believe they’re getting more “go power,” to use Marner’s phrase, it’s conceivable they are.

The trainer added that it’s “widely accepted” that the occasional sniff of an ammonia capsule is “relatively harmless.” The exception surrounds players suffering the symptoms of a concussion.

more